A Cleansing Rain
by Ryuusui
Summary: .HIATUS. "Well he didn't say anything, but Ino and I have been talking about it for weeks." She grinned, clearly happier now that she was out of the rain. "You just haven't been listening."
1. Prologue

**Title **: A Cleansing Rain  
**Rating **: K+ - T (I can't decide)  
**Pairings **: SasuHina, slight NaruSaku  
**Summary **: The rain made Hinata feel clean; like she hadn't made mistakes in training that day; like… like she was worthy of being the Hyuuga clan's heir. Rain made Sasuke miserable – I mean, all that effort on his hair gone to waste! (XD) – but someone's been changing his perspective on the dreary weather lately. He'd go to hell and back, however, before anyone would get him to admit it.  
**Chapter Title **: Sasuke's Birthday (Prologue)  
**Word Count **: 1,101  
**Author's Notes **: Yay for Sasuke x Hinata! coughs Ahem. Anyways, this story is probably only going to be two or three chapters long; and _that's_ only because if I made it one chapter it'd be a VERY long one chapter… So, I hope you like it. Remember to review!

By the way, my summary-writing-ability went poof. ;  
**Disclaimer** : Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. I don't. It's that simple!

- - - - - -

Konohagakure no Soto was blessed by rain on this day, even the great forest that surrounded the village's borders showed the effects from lack of water. And those trees always seemed to be healthy. There was some story behind them… Well, as far as Naruto knew. He never paid attention in class.

He also didn't know why it _hadn't_ rained in, like, forever. Curse the summer; that was probably it.

Naruto, on this dreary day, was curled into a ball on the bridge he was supposed to meet his sensei at… two hours ago. "Damn it! When I get my hands on that perverted, no-good, inconsid-."

"Hi Naruto," a very gloomy kunoichi interrupted. Sakura hated the rain. The all-around grayness clashed with her pink hair and matching red outfit, and put her into a very bad mood. The boy she was speaking to knew this personally (he never went near _that_ place again).

"Sakura-chan! Why are you so late? And have you seen the teme! It's not like him not to show up." Naruto's blonde hair hung in his face, making it annoyingly difficult to see with his bright blue eyes. His orange clothes were soaked, and freezing cold.

The trees may have liked the rain, but the village's inhabitants didn't.

"Sasuke-kun? I'm not surprised…" she responded, apparently not giving Naruto the answer he wanted. He pouted and nearly threw a fit. Springing up from the ground, he opened his mouth to say something when Sakura interrupted, "You don't remember, do you?"

"Remember what?" It was too early for this. Too cold… too wet. Naruto sneezed. It wasn't supposed to be like this in the summer!

"It's his birthday."

"Nani!" Naruto nearly screamed, a shocked expression dominating his features. "Why didn't anyone tell me!" He growled. "I bet Kakashi knew. I'm going to tear him a-"

"Calm down Naruto! You're making a scene! Goodness." Sakura looked exasperated. Her blonde friend sure knew how to drain the energy out of someone. Maybe that's why he was always so hyper…

"Come on; let's go get something to eat." She coughed. "By the way, you do know you're two and a half hours early? Don't you?"

"WHAT!"

- - - - - -

**At the Ichiraku Ramen Shop:**

"So," Naruto began, but immediately sneezed afterwards. He seemed to have caught a cold. A cold! In the middle of summer! Sniffling, he grabbed the tissue offered by Sakura and blew his nose. "_So_, why didn't anyone tell me it was his birthday?"

"Well _he_ didn't say anything, but Ino and I have been talking about it for weeks." She grinned, clearly happier now that she was out of the rain. "You just haven't been listening."

Naruto sweat-dropped and immediately opened his mouth to defend himself when the ramen came.

"It's about time you've found a girlfriend to bring here," the shop owner said, smiling politely. Sakura's eyebrow twitched.

"Wha? You really think so?" Naruto blushed deeply and started to grin stupidly… that is, until he caught site of Sakura's face. "S-s-sakura! H-he was just k-kidding? Right?" He turned to the owner of his precious ramen shop. "Right!"

The old man laughed and turned to leave the two ninja alone. Naruto was petrified; Sakura was cracking her knuckles. That meant he was about to be punched. And, having been on the receiving end of that punch more than once before, the blonde jinchuuriki was prepared to do anything and everything to avoid the coming violence. "Ne-- so what else were you saying about the teme's birthday?" He said while grinning ridiculously.

Sakura snapped from her 'Make-Naruto-suffer-as-much-as-possible' mode immediately. "Right! So, Ino and I were going to go over to his house later and give him his presents."

"Demo… wouldn't it have been easier to give the presents to him when he showed up for practice?"

The pink-haired kunoichi stared at her blonde companion as if he had two heads. "You're kidding, right?" Silence. "Sasuke-kun doesn't come out on his birthday."

"Wha-? That makes no sense! I mean, the bastard's fanatical about training and being on-time and all that other crap!"

"I guess he gives himself a day to rest." She shrugged. "I wouldn't be able to give you a better reason than that. You should probably ask him yourself."

Naruto turned to his rapidly cooling ramen. "I suppose." He took a pair of chopsticks from his pocket and started to slurp his ramen thoughtfully when-

"Yo!"

-Kakashi-sensei finally decided to show up, causing Naruto to nearly choke.

"YOU!" Sakura nearly screamed. Naruto, having recovered from his sensei's abrupt entrance, joined her when she spoke again. "YOU'RE LATE!"

Kakashi grinned. Or, at least, they thought he grinned. "You see, a pretty girl was talking to me whe-"

"LIAR!" The two present members of team 7 yelled in unison.

"What?" Their sensei said, feigning hurt. "Pretty girls can't talk to me? I'm insulted." His pupils glared at him. Well, Sakura glared; Naruto was busy sneezing and attempting to blow his nose. Yep, he still has his summer cold. Kakashi coughed. "Where's Sasuke? We have an important mission today."

"A mission!" Naruto's mood instantly soared. "No training then? AWESOME!"

Sakura was slightly more suspicious. "A mission? You told us today was going to be jutsu practice."

"Sakura-chaaan! Don't be like that! Missions are waaay better than jutsu practice, believe it!" (AN: I'm sooo sorry! It just seemed appropriate. I won't make him say that anymore. Just laugh at my lameness for even making him say it once.)

His pink haired-team mate frowned as Kakashi repeated, "Where's Sasuke?"

"Probably at home," Naruto interjected before Sakura would respond. "But why should we care? WE HAVE A MISSION!"

Kakashi's visible eye turned upward in an upside-down 'U' shape. "Well, we're not leaving until you find him."

"NANI!" His blonde student nearly fainted. "But-- ne, we don't need the teme! I'll protect us!"

"Of course you will Naruto. However, we're not leaving until Sasuke shows up." He repeated."It's a B-rank mission. Sasuke's talent would make it much easier."

"D-demo…" Naruto tried to come up with something, anything to try and convince his sensei that he (the next Hokage) was better than Sasuke could ever be. That the conceited bastard didn't need to be with them. All he could do, however, was sneeze. "FINE! I'll find him." Naruto put his hands together and formed a seal. "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

And so, the Kyuubi vessel and his clones set off at record speed to find team seven's absent team mate.

It was only until after they were out of sight that Sakura realized… "THAT JERK FORGOT TO PAY FOR HIS RAMEN!"

- - - - - -

If you find any mistakes, feel free to contact me via e-mail! Any type of review is welcome. (yep, that includes flames! xD They're fun to laugh at)


	2. My Name

**Title **: A Cleansing Rain  
**Rating **: T  
**Pairings **: SasuHina, slight NaruSaku  
**Summary **+ pokes prologue + It's all there folks. + wink +  
**Chapter Title **: My Name  
**Word Count **: 2,433  
**Author's Notes **: HOLY CRAP. DON'T KILL ME.  
Yes, believe it or not, I do enjoy living.  
**Disclaimer** : It's pretty simple: I. do. not. own. Naruto.

- - - - - -

Hyuuga Hinata loved absolutely everything about the rain. How it made her hair flat; how the crashes of thunder made her jump; how it revived dying plants; and, probably the most important, made her feel clean. It washed away her mistakes, her regrets and made the Hyuuga heiress feel happy.

It was while she was walking happily away from the Hyuuga mansion in the rain that a familiar voice interrupted her thoughts. "Hinata-sama?"

The white-eyed teen spun around. "O-oh. N-neji-n-nii-san. I d-didn't hear y-you."

Her cousin looked at her curiously. "Why are you out in the rain?" Hinata lowered her head in shame. "Hinata-sama?"

"F-forgive m-me Neji-n-nii-s-san. I… I just w-wanted to b-b-be alone."

Neji frowned. "Well, then… don't stay out too long. You'll get sick. And then you wouldn't-"

"Thank y-you, Neji," she cut him off. As she brushed her violet hair from her eyes the Hyuuga prodigy nodded curtly and walked away. What she would give to be like her cousin; he was so strong while she was so weak.

Rain poured down on her shaking body. '_No. It's not the time to be thinking these kinds of thoughts._' And so, Hyuuga Hinata ran off; to where? Well, anywhere she supposed. It didn't matter as long as she could stop thinking.

The streets were unusually crowded. Many girls she saw were part of the next generation of Sasuke fangirls. She pushed through another crowd of them, earning a few stares (but none that lasted for more than a couple of seconds). Vaguely she wondered why they had all gathered.

Her sandals slapped the ground in a way any ninja should be ashamed of but Hinata couldn't care less. She was soaking wet, and entirely too tired but she didn't notice. All she had eyes for was the uchiwa fan painted on the wall in front of her.

"I'm… at the Uchiha c-c-complex?" The young Hyuuga had only been there once or twice before; and those times had been for clan business. She had been young at the time so nothing looked the least bit familiar to her.

"I-I s-should leave," she said to herself. Her growing curiosity, however, got the best of her and she decided to go exploring. '_Only for a little bit…_' (AN: Hinata doesn't stutter in her mind! XD)

As Hinata wandered around she couldn't help but feel sad. No one had bothered to fix the buildings; it didn't even look like anyone had tried to get the (however faint) blood stains off the walls. The Hyuuga heiress found it hard to believe that the infamous Uchiha clan had really once lived here.

And so she became enraptured with her own thoughts for the second time that day, and for the second time that day a familiar voice interrupted them. "What are you doing here?"

Hinata looked up to find the source of the noise and met the one and only Uchiha Sasuke's eyes. He was sitting on the roof of a building, _almost_ looking somewhat relaxed (the way he was looking at Hinata told otherwise however). She was terrified. Actually, to say the Hyuuga heiress was terrified could be counted as one of the top ten understatements of the century. If looks could kill…

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke repeated, stressing each word. It was as if he thought Hinata was dense. '_Which he probably does,_' she thought to herself. "Hyuuga?" he insisted. '_He probably doesn't even know my name._'

"M-my n-n-name is H-hinata."

The stoic Uchiha leaned forward. "What did you say?"

Hinata looked down at her feet. "I-I… I said… my name is H-Hinata."

How Sasuke was going to respond would stay a mystery to the heiress as a certain someone interrupted their 'conversation.' (AN: People are rude in Konoha… All this interrupting of thoughts and conversations) "Hinata-chaaaaan!!" Hinata brought her gaze off of her feet and onto Naruto, who happened to be running toward them. "What are you doing out in the rain?" he asked, concerned.

"W-well… u-uhm…"

"Nevermin-" Naruto stopped when lightning flashed nearby, followed by an incredibly loud clap of thunder. "Kuso!! Kakashi's gonna kill me!! Hey, Hinata-chan, have you seen Sasuke-teme? We have-"

"I'm right here, dobe."

Naruto spun around. "TEME!! How dare you skip training?! Get down here! We have a mission!!" Hinata stared at the object of her affection, obviously being forgotten in the success of finding the Uchiha.

Sasuke jumped down from the roof gracefully without saying a word. Hyuuga Hinata had to fight the urge to hide behind Naruto. He was just so intimidating.  
And then she caught sight of his hair. It was… well, different. It was wet, for sure, and… flat. He looked so much like his brother -- as much as Hinata could tell anyways (she had only seen Itachi in pictures).

The Kyuubi container also noticed the Uchiha's new hair. "Teme? What did-- your hair?"

Sasuke smirked. "It's called rain, dobe."

"AHH!! STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Naruto fumed. "Come on. We gotta go! Kakashi and Sakura are waiting and I think my clones are starting to scare people…"

"No."

Hinata stared at the pair of them. "Wait just a minute teme, you can't say no! It's a mission! We have a duty as shinobi!"

"I'm not going."

"Sasuke! Don't make me force you!"

Pause. "You? Force _me_?" Sasuke snorted. "I'll be leaving now." As an afterthought, he added, "And Hyuuga: Leave the Uchiha complex." And before they could blink (or protest) the Uchiha disappeared before their eyes.

It was silent for all of three seconds. "THAT BASTARD!" Naruto yelled, causing Hinata to jump slightly. "Kakashi's going to train us to death now! I won't be able to eat my precious ramen with Iruka later! Unless… Hey Hinata! Do you think you could come with us?" His blue eyes got all watery and he started to sniffle loudly (otherwise she wouldn't be able to hear him… stupid rain). "Whaddaya say Hinata?"

"Gomen, N-naruto-kun. I… I can't." Not that she didn't want to. She'd give anything to spend a day with Naruto. But there was an important dinner Hiashi expected her to be at (which she should be at home preparing for). Hanabi wouldn't have to go -- she wasn't the Hyuuga heiress.

"Kuso!! If it weren't for Sasuke-bastard and his stupid birthday and this stupid rain today would've been… would've been… uhh… perfect!"

"S-sasuke-san's birth d-day?"

Naruto stared at the Hyuuga heiress oddly. "You didn't know either? Oh, right! You're not in his fan club. (at this point, the blonde slapped his forehead as if to say "duh") Yeah, today's his birthday." He scowled. "According to Sakura, no one sees him on his birthday or some other nonsense. I don't really care." A pause. "You think Kiba could come with us?" He asked hopefully.

"I-I don't k-know… g-gomen," Hinata said, putting her fingers together out of nervousness.

"No need to apologize! I'll just go-" The blonde stopped in mid sentence. The heiress looked up at the boy just in time to see him nearly fall backwards because of the force of his sneeze. "Stupid cold," he muttered under his breath before continuing the sentence the sneeze had interrupted, "I'll just go find the dog-boy. I'm pretty sure I know where he lives."

"G-good luck Naruto-k-kun."

"Thanks! Will you be alright?" Lightning flashed in the sky above them. "The rain's starting to pick up. Maybe I should walk you home… or something."

Hinata blushed furiously. "N-no -- I'll b-be fine." She paused.

"Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked, genuinely concerned.

The heiress had to turn away so that her crush wouldn't see her tomato-red face. "Do you think S-sasuke-s-san will b-be alr-right?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

The jinchuuriki grinned. "You're worried 'bout Sasuke? That's all?" He snorted, as if it was a new concept for someone to be worried about the Uchiha. "He'll be fine. At least, _his_ version of 'fine'," he said reassuringly, only to find Hinata still with her back to him. "If you're _that_ worried… just…" Naruto paused. Oddly, he was at a loss for words. "He'll be fine."

"…"

"Well, I have to go… bye Hinata-chan!"

Hinata heard the blonde speed off. She stood there in the rain, contemplating what she was about to do, before speeding off herself.

- - - - - -

"Damn."

A certain ninja was currently taking a short break from his trainings, breathing heavily might I add. He sat with his back against an old pine tree (AN: I didn't know it, but pine trees DO grow in Japan! Yay! xD), shielded from the rain by its thick branches.

Before his break, the Uchiha had been practicing moves he had copied with his Sharingan. Well, Sasuke would most probably refer to it as experimenting. He varied his chakra output and mixed his physical and spiritual energies and observed which combination worked out best. And by worked out best, he meant destroyed the most trees in the immediate vicinity.

He'd been making steady progress; the Uchiha had even managed to create ten more Kage Bunshins than he had been able to in one go last time. So, he'd been making steady progress until he tried Naruto's other signature move -- the Rasengan.

The jutsu completely confounded him. Several times he thought he had it down perfect, only to have the accumulated chakra disperse in a spiral-like pattern when he tried to hit something. He was surprised that he didn't have chakra burns on his hands by now.

"How does that moron do it?"

Sasuke frowned and threw a kunai so hard that it embedded itself up to the hilt in the target in front of him. _What's your secret, dobe?_

Getting up slowly, the Uchiha decided to vent his frustrations on the nearest tree. He let loose a barrage of punches and kicks. His taijutsu was even more devastating than usual because he thought it might be a good idea to channel chakra to his limbs.

After perhaps fifteen minutes of tree-punishing, Sasuke's knuckles were raw and bloody and the innocent tree's trunk was splintered and the tree itself was in considerable danger of falling over. He only paused in his assault, however, when a chakra signal approached the training site. Deciding to ignore whoever it was for the time-being, he continued his beating of the pine with renewed fever.

Anyone in their right mind would probably stop then, taking into account the damage he (or she) was inflicting on their hands and that the tree (should it fall down) could crush them to death (which is, mind you, not a very honorable death for a ninja); but, Sasuke couldn't really be said to be "in his right mind." And so his punches and kicks went on for what seemed like hours to the person watching in the tree a few meters from the Uchiha. They were obviously waiting for something, whether it was recognition or death nobody knew.

But I don't suppose they were waiting for a kunai to fly at their face.

Startled, the ninja fell from the branch before landing clumsily on all-fours on the ground. Without even glancing at them, Sasuke (once again) resumed his training. "If you're going to hide from me" -- punch -- "at least hide well," he remarked somewhat casually. "Then again," -- kick -- "I don't suppose there's" -- jab -- "really a point if you can't" -- punch -- "even conceal your own" -- kick -- "chakra." He paused, and turned around in a fluid motion.

"Why are you here Hyuuga?"

Poor Hinata's face flushed bright crimson. "S-sasuke-san."

He brushed his sopping wet hair from his face, sweat mingling with the raindrops in such a way that they were indistinguishable from each other. The Uchiha had long ago discarded his shirt, feeling no real need for it. He made a move for it now.

"What do you want?" he asked, irritated.

"I-I… t-today is your b-b-birthday, r-right?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "If that's the only reason you're here, you'll have to excuse me." He bent down to pick up his shirt, though ignoring the kunai scattered about and lodged in various targets, and pulled it over his head before starting to walk away with his hands in his pockets.

"Wait!"

The Uchiha cast a bored look over his shoulder and the soaking-wet Hinata.

"I-I w-wanted…" she paused. "I w-wanted to m-make sure you w-w-were alright."

He lifted his head to gaze at the dark sky. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"G-gomen," she said hastily, face flushed once again. "I sh-shouldn't have worried. I'll l-leave you alone." She turned quickly, ready to flee for her life when Sasuke appeared in front of her. Her eyes widened to previously unheard of levels. "S-s-sasuke-san?" Hinata managed to squeak out.

"You didn't answer my question, Hyuuga."

"A-ano…" Hinata began nervously. She looked at her hands, trying to find the right words. She wished she had a towel she could squeeze the life out of (not that towels have lives or anything, but you get the idea).

"Well?" Sasuke pressed, impatient now.

"I…" She raised her eyes to meet his. They were fierce, as though he were angry. And yet, she could find no real reason for him to be. Okay, so she followed him, interrupted his training and didn't leave the Uchiha complex… Maybe he did have reason to be angry. The heiress took a deep breath. "You're… just always alone," she said uncharacteristically boldly.

His eyes widened for a fraction of a second (actually, Hinata thought he twitched at first) before narrowing dangerously. "Is that so?"

Hinata shivered under his gaze, but she didn't back down. "Hai."

Sasuke's sharingan flashed briefly, startling the Hyuuga heiress. Her thoughts were racing; did she really make him that angry? But as soon as the red eyes were there, they were replaced by black; the Uchiha's expression placid.

"S-sasuke-san…?"

Sasuke didn't know what this was. He felt like he wasn't in control anymore. Like he had never been in control and was the last to realize. He couldn't move, couldn't speak…

"Sasuke-san?"

All he could do was stare into those pools of white.

"Sasuke?" the question became more urgent. Hinata's eyes shown with fear, clouded by confusion and maybe a tinge of regret for coming there at all.

"Gomen," he said in a dazed voice, once again regaining what little control he had in the first place. He turned to leave, by not before saying something over his shoulder: "See you, Hinata."

The Uchiha disappeared before she could comprehend.

And all Hinata could think was: He said my name.

- - - - - -

Okay, not as long as I would like considering… uhm… that I've had this written for freakin' months and haven't bothered to type it up. + sheepish grin + Yeah.

SO!

Some of you may be wondering, and some may not, but I'm gonna address the Sasuke training-thing. I always wondered why he never used his Sharingan to copy the kage bunshin technique from Naruto. I mean, seriously! It just seemed so… idiotic? Anyway, so here I have him able to do that technique. Same goes for the Rasengan -- you would think he'd at least try, right?

ENJOY.

Just don't send flying knives my way.


End file.
